I've tried both the set with the speaker box on top and the micro version (no speaker). The micro version isn't worth your money. The sound it produces is headache inducing. It's like playing a buzzer alarm. Definitely not worth the $100 or so they charge for it. It sounds more like a toy than anything.

The speaker box version (more common) sounds good. Not as good as the Fagerstrom technopipes, Deger, or RedPipe, but still enjoyable to listen to. The settings are comparable to the others listed (metronome, tuning, drones, smallpipe/highland sound).

I will say the Deger and Fagerstrom are a little more comfortable to play as you don't have as much of a balancing act and so you are able to keep your fingers lighter. With the Ross I'd play sitting so I could sit the end down on either a table or my leg and hold the top with either my chin or chest. You just have to be careful not to hit the button on top.

The other small issue I had with the Ross is that the shaft isn't tampered at the top. So it doesn't quite feel the same as a practice chanter or pipe chanter. It's just a straight cylinder. For me, it just made top hand movements a bit awkward.

I seem to have less of an issue with the Deger and Fagerstrom with hand oils "sticking" a key. After a bit of playing, sometimes the oils from your hand will hold a key down (not a big issue, just takes a quick wipe with a cloth/shirt - but it gets annoying). I'm assuming this is probably due to the smaller "hole" size and that those models don't have the upper and lower ridges that the Ross has which is better at collecting finger gunk than a PC. I don't own a RedPipe, but it's build is similar to the Deger (I'm convinced it's more of a Deger 3 than anything), so I assume it wouldn't have as much of an issue there.

Overall all though I'd say the Ross is a good instrument for occasional play. If you're looking into heavy use or performance, you might want to consider one of the other models for sound quality and better physical balance. And don't waste your time/$ with the Ross micro.

Many thanks for your reply bucoughman. I went ahead and bought the Ross version with the built-in speaker, and I have to say that I'm very happy with it. I have never tried the other makes that you mentioned, and I'm sure that you're right about the difference in quality, but to be honest for my standard of playing and the amount and type of use it gets it's pretty much spot-on, particularly when you consider the difference in price.

Yeah I had one for about 5yrs and enjoyed playing it. There's a lot of fun stuff you can do with it (esp. if you get creative with guitar effect/wah pedels). I didn't realize how much the price difference between the Fagerstrom and Ross is now. Don't think I'd pay the current Fagerstrom price either.